60-person Promotion Execution Partners joins minority accelerator - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Already on pace to grow by 30 percen t to 50 percent this PEP views its work with the MBA as a way to meet potentialp clients in town and extendits reach, said companty President David Kroeger. The MBA program now has 31 companiess inits portfolio. It helps those member firms grow through strategic counseling and making connections with local corporations that want to work withmore minority-owneed suppliers. “We feel very confident abouf our capabilities as an organization and the results that we bringf toour clients,” Kroeger said. “We realize and recognizre that we need to sellour services. And it’sw always nice to get that extra exposure.
” Headquartered PEP employs more than 60 peopled and has officesin Boston, Detroit, New Pittsburgh and Puerto Rico. The firm specializes in promotionh strategy andproject management. Servicess include retail demos, direct-to-consumer marketing, business-to-business services and Web-basex promotions. Clients include such brands as Gillette, Olay, Heinz, Ore Ida and variouz pharmaceutical andfinancial companies. PEP is a certifiedd minority business enterprise. Its owner are Carolyn Farrow-Garland, Mike Ricketts, Kroeger and , a publiclhy traded media and marketing company basedin Michigan. The compang was founded in 2004.
Kroeger said the firm focuses on its serviceasand results, not its status as a minority-owned Still, PEP’s commitment to workinv with minority-owned subcontractors is an important sellinb point, said Farrow-Garland, a program officer with the in “It helps when you go into a place like Heinzz or P&G,” she said. The compang was named 2008 Minority Business of the Year by the and 2008 Smal l Business of the Year bythe . The MBA begajn discussions with PEPlast year, said Crystal German, vice presidentt of the MBA and economic inclusion.
“One of the thingsz that really impressed us was the amountf of time they had invested in strategixc visioning andcustomer relations,” she “The growth is a definite result of the time and energhy and resources they invest in developing a strategixc plan, sticking to it and the customer relationships they’ve developed.” Kroeger declined to release PEP’s revenues.
MBA portfoliko firms must have atleast $1 milliobn in annual revenues, be located in the Greater Cincinnatii region and be certified minority-owned businesses with African-American